IO VISTA - The 250 participants in the 75th Rio Vista Bass Derby , the West Coast ’ s oldest bass derby , enjoyed sunny , mild and calm fall weather on October 13 , 14 , and 14 in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta . The anglers fishing the adult division competed in two divisions , striped bass and sturgeon , based on the fish closest to the target lengths . The target lengths were drawn at the start of the derby early Friday morning . The striped bass target length was 26.75 inches . “ On Saturday morning , a fisherman turned in a fish measuring 26.70 inches ,” said Ken Baccetti , President of the California Striped Bass Association Isleton Chapter . “ He would have won the derby but another angler checked in another fish measuring 26.72 inches an hour before the derby closed .” Austin Todd won first place in the event with his striped bass measuring 26.72 inches and weighing 6.9 pounds . He won $ 4,000 . Brent Ramsey placed second with his striper measuring 26.70 inches and weighing 7.9 pounds . He won $ 1500 . Michael Todd placed third with a striped bass measuring 26.64 inches and weighing 8.3 pounds . He won $ 1000 . “ We had lots of fish turned in ,” said Baccetti . “ Most fish were caught in Montezuma Slough , Suisun Slough and Grizzly Bay . A couple of anglers reported throwing swimbaits and others trolled lures . There weren ’ t very many anglers who reported fishing with bait .” Only three sturgeon were weighed in , so all three anglers received a

check . “ Most of the anglers who targeted sturgeon said they hooked either shakers or oversized fish . All of the three winners caught their fish in the Pittsburg Area .,” said Baccetti . The target length for sturgeon was 47.50 inches . Milagros Gomez won first place with a 46.40 inch sturgeon weighing 35.0 pounds , winning $ 1500 , reported Stacia Olson of the Rio Vista Chamber of Commerce . Martin Morfey finished second with a 44.95 inch sturgeon weighing 25.2 pounds , winning $ 600 . Carolann Bueno finished third with a sturgeon measuring 46.40 inches and weighing 20.9 pounds , winning $ 300 . Additional prizes for up to 15 places in the striped bass category were donated by North Pole Bait and Tackle and Michelli Measurement Group . Salmon weren ’ t included in this year ’ s derby , due to the closure of the salmon season by the state and federal fishery managers because of the collapse of the fall-run Chinook salmon runs on the Sacramento and Klamath rivers . The Kids Derby featured two categories : striped bass and catfish , with separate prizes awarded . Catfish could be any size and the fish with the top weight and length was declared the winner . Kids under age 16 were excluded from participating in the adult derby . “ Everybody who entered the Kids Derby received a prize ,” said Baccetti . “ A resident of Rio Vista who preferred to be anonymous donated git cards in past years . Between this year and last year , he

passed away . However , His daughter brought gift cards for the kid ’ s winners in his memory .” The striped bass had to be a minimum legal size of 18 ” and not over 24 ”.

The winning fish were those closest to 24 ”. John Gertiser won first place with a 23.33 ” 5.0 lb . striper . He won a $ 100 gift card and fishing rod .

Darnelle Howard placed second with a 23.31 ” 5.4 lb . fish . He won a $ 75 gift card and fishing rod . Johnny Aguilar placed third with a 23.18 ” 5.1 lb . striper . He won a $ 50 gift card and fishing rod . Jocelyn Aguilar placed fourth with a 22.63 ” 5.2 lb . fish . She won a $ 25 gift card and a Snag ’ um & Bag ’ um Yeti Cup . Additional prizes of $ 25 gift cards were given to kid entries who did not place in the top 3 . Additional prizes for the striped bass category were donated by North Pole Bait and Tackle and Snag ’ um & Bag ’ um Custom Baits , according to Olson . The catfish could be any size , with the fish with the top weight and length winning .

Wolt Kamp , one of the 250 anglers who participated in this Rio Vista Bass Derby , holds up his limit of striped bass caught on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta on October 14 .

Photo by Dan Bacher